A former nurse is tackling a maternal health crisis in the UK after witnessing the lack of structured support available to mothers both clinically and socially.
Mari-Carmen Sanchez-Morris has raised £315,000 for her startup Matresa, which aims to provide mothers with personalised, continuous care throughout the maternal journey – from preconception through pregnancy and into postpartum recovery.
Sanchez-Morris’s experience working in paediatric intensive care, combined with her own journey through motherhood, revealed how maternal health needs often go unseen once a baby is born.
Also founder of The FIT MAMA Way app, she is a health and wellness coach focused on new and expectant mothers.
“Poor maternal healthcare doesn’t exist in isolation. It affects women’s health, careers, families and the wider economy,” she said.
“Tailored maternal care isn’t a privilege – it’s a necessity. Mothers deserve to feel safe and supported, and we must do more to tackle this crisis.”
The pre-seed funding, led by SFC Capital, will accelerate the development and rollout of Matresa’s platform, which is set to launch this summer.
It comes at a critical time for maternal health in the UK, with maternal mortality rates now at their highest level in more than two decades and growing evidence of gaps in support for mothers before and after childbirth.
Matresa team with Mari-Carmen Sanchez-Morris centre
One in five women in the UK experiences maternal mental health conditions or serious complications following childbirth. Many of these outcomes are preventable with earlier intervention and better continuity of care, yet maternal services remain fragmented and reactive.
Preventable maternal health problems are estimated to cost the UK economy between £13 and £15 billion annually through healthcare spending, lost productivity and long-term social impact.
Matresa is named after matrescence, the complex transition into motherhood that spans physical, psychological and social change.
It combines clinical expertise, behavioural science and AI-driven insights to deliver personalised maternal health support across pregnancy and early parenthood.
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The platform focuses on three high-risk periods: maternity leave; the return-to-work transition; and early workforce re-entry.
By supporting mothers during these phases, Matresa helps reduce health risks, workforce drop-out and long-term complications.
Maternal health challenges directly affect workforce participation. Currently, one in three mothers leaves the workforce within a year of childbirth, creating significant economic and organisational impact.
Replacing a skilled female employee post-maternity can cost employers between £30,000 and £150,000, highlighting the need for preventative maternal support in workplaces.
In a pilot with a global professional services firm, Matresa says it demonstrated measurable outcomes: wellbeing scores increased from 5.2 to 7.8; productivity rose by 20%; and energy and mood improved by 50%.
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